Virginia: McDonnell Gets Support From Ex-State Attorneys General

By The Associated Press

March 9, 2015

Forty-four former state attorneys general urged a federal appeals court Monday to toss out former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s public corruption convictions. In a friend-of-the-court brief, the 23 Democrats and 21 Republicans argued that Mr. McDonnell had been convicted based on an overly broad definition of “an official act” in federal bribery laws. “At the very least, it empowers federal prosecutors to charge state officials with crimes for routine political pleasantries, casting a fog over every dinner with a constituent or appearance at a fund-raiser,” they wrote. A jury in September found Mr. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of doing favors for a nutritional supplements executive in exchange for more than $165,000 in gifts and loans. The former governor was sentenced to two years in prison. His wife was sentenced to one year and one day. Both are free on bond.